Hundreds of Australian consumers are suing US Apple company for violating consumer rights by allegedly refusing to look at or repair some iPads and iPhones previously serviced by a third party.
Australia’s consumer watchdog agency, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), announced on Thursday that it had filed a legal complaint on behalf of 275 consumers against Apple Pty Limited...

A refugee who raped a ten-year-old boy has claimed he did not know sexually assaulting the child was wrong as it was ‘culturally acceptable’ in his homeland.
Mufiz Rahaman told Sydney’s Downing Centre Court raping children was not seen as morally wrong in his native Myanmar when he pleaded guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a 10-year-old refugee on Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph...

A major scientific search is underway in Queensland, Australia for the Tasmanian tiger, thought extinct for over 80 years. A series of possible ‘plausible’ sightings have triggered hope a rare species has returned from the brink.
Camera traps are being deployed across Cape York Peninsula by James Cook University researchers to survey sites where the creature, also known as the Tasmanian wolf,...

Four thousand teachers in Australia are preparing to go through a training program aimed at helping stop sexism in students as young as 4-years-old.
The course, set up by the regional government in Victoria, will teach educators how to spot young children who “enact sexist values, beliefs and attitudes.”
A document concerning the program obtained by Heat Street defends the action by arguing that...

Thousands of people have been evacuated as a monster category four cyclone smashed into the coast of Australia, with winds over 260 kilometers per hour (160 mph) ripping off roofs and uprooting trees in Queensland.
The 50-kilometer-wide eye of Cyclone Debbie struck along the north Queensland coastline; starting with Whitsunday Islands and the nearby mainland. The hurricane strong winds are currently...

A flyer for a controversial Islamic conference set to be held in Australia next month is stirring outrage over its depiction of several female speakers.
The three women, who are featured on an advertisement for the Australian Islamic Peace Conference, have been replaced by faceless, burka-clad avatars while the faces of their male counterparts remain unadulterated.
According to Australia’s Herald...

Australia Day celebrations turned sour Thursday when a plane crashed into the water in Perth, with two people inside. The incident, which was caught on camera, prompted organizers to cancel a firework display after fruitless attempts to rescue the victims.
The Grumman G-73 Mallard flying boat made a dramatic descent into the Swan River as onlookers who had gathered for the Australia Day firework display...

In a breaking news story, a car has rammed into a crowd of Australians in Melbourne, killing at least 3, including 1 Jewish child.
A teen who was on scene described driver as thin, dark hair, appeared Middle Eastern. The driver has been identified as Dimitrious Gargasoulas.
Dimitrious Gargasoulas admitted on one of his Facebook posts that he is a Muslim of Kurdish origin from Greece.
According to...

New Zealand police have ordered people to evacuate buildings as hazmat teams are responding to an ammonia leak at a property in Mount Maunganui.
“Police are currently responding to an ammonia leak at a property on Mark Road, Mt Manganui,” police announced. “We ask that people please follow the instructions of police in the area and evacuate immediately.”
Hull Road, through to Tukorako Drive...

Police in Melbourne, Australia, have arrested five Muslims—four Australian-born Lebanese, and one Egyptian-born, all legal immigrants—for planning a series of massive attacks in the city on Christmas Day.
The plan—described as the “most substantial plot” in Australian history—included targeting several well-known sites in the city to cause death and destruction on December 25.
Police in...

One of the victims of the savage assault, identified only as Andrew,
described his attackers “animals”.
The terrifying ordeal unfolded when the gang of African teenagers began destroying fencing outside the St Kilda Life Saving Club on the famous Melbourne beach, Australia.
Two landscape gardeners working on the site yelled at the men who responded by unleashing a brutal onslaught.
Andrew said:...

A “washed up whale,” a “sea monster with dreadlocks” and a “beach Christmas tree” are just some of the guesses about a strange seaweed-covered object that washed up on a New Zealand beach. People are scratching their heads to explain what it is.
The large phenomenon was found on Muriwai Beach in Auckland by local resident Melissa Doubleday.
She posted photos of the strange barnacle covered...

The group is being backed by the education union, but Opposition state education spokesman Nick Wakeling said ‘the classroom isn’t a soapbox for activist teachers’.
Hundreds of teachers at 30 Victorian schools will wear T-shirts promoting the closure of offshore detention camps as of Monday as part of a pro-refugee movement.
Up to 500 educators with Teachers for Refugees will wear...

There is no such thing as man-made global warming drastically melting ice in the Antarctic, according to analysis of Antarctic expeditions over the past 100 years.
When the current sea ice extent in Antarctica is superimposed over past routes of expedition ships, it reveals that ice on the frigid continent is largely the same now as it was in the early 20th century.
This is an revolutionary revelation...

Six are now dead from a rare “thunderstorm asthma” outbreak in Melbourne, Australia.
Five more remain in intensive care units, with three in critical condition, and another 12 are in hospitals for less severe respiratory problems.
A thunderstorm in the city November 21 started the asthma outbreak. After a very hot, high pollen day, the sudden high winds and heavy rain soaked ryegrass pollen...